One Heck of a Holiday
by zia raine
Summary: The gang plans a horror trip to Bella’s father’s ancestral house in the country. What started as an innocent holiday turns into something a little more complicated when Bella’s ancestors acknowledge their visitors. AU, AH but there are ghosts.
1. Planning

**Summary: The gang plans a horror trip to Bella's father's ancestral house in the country. What started as an innocent holiday turns into something a little more complicated when Bella's ancestors acknowledge their visitors.**

**NOT all human but the Twilight characters are. (read: ghosts) AU.**

**Disclaimer: These beautiful Twilight characters aren't mine. They all belong to the goddess that is Stephenie Meyer.**

**a/n : This is my second fan fiction and I just wanted to try and post this first chapter to see how it goes. The idea has been in my head for a while now. It might be a bit confusing at first.**

**The first part of each chapter will be in italics because it's a flashback to Bella's "ancestors". The "Gang" consists of Bella, Alice, Edward and Jacob but the rest of the characters will be part of the story line as the story progresses.**

**Okay, enjoy!**

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**3rd Person POV**

"_Will you be here?" Will you be waiting again tonight?" Marie whispered quickly as the sun descended into the horizon._

"_Ssshhh." He whispered softly and they both watched the setting sun painted the clouds and the sky a light red and purple. Twilight, the best part of the day, and also the most predictable: it signaled rest and a time of parting for Marie and Anthony but twilight welcomed then night – the time when Marie and Anthony would see each other again. _

_Anthony turned to her. "Yes, yes. I will be waiting."_

"_Will you never tire of me? Of how we have to be this way?" she asked after a moment's pause, her eyes full of apology._

"_Of course not." He stared deep into her eyes, unperturbed, as though the question was asked more than once before. "Do you so doubt my love for you?" he asked, a smile playing around the corners of his lips._

"_No!" I only fear that you will find someone who will not ever put you through what I am putting you though, that all this will someday scare you away. I shall be happy that you will have found your life of peace, but, it shall be the death of me." She said sadly._

_He took her into his arms then and sighed. "Marie," he murmured her name over and over. "It shall not, nor will it ever be a life of peace, much less a life at all, if you are not the center of it. Do you understand?"_

_Their lips met and Marie nodded when they pulled away. "Now go in, love. We do not want your mother to shriek blue murder when she sees you out here. The peaceful night deserves more than that."_

_She giggled and stood on tiptoe to kiss him again and he locked her into his arms. Her hands found their way to the back of his head and started to fun her fingers through his hair. He reluctantly ended their passionate kiss while gently pulling her hands away._

_Marie pouted but his gaze was firm. "Go." He whispered again, his gaze softening._

_She smiled, her brown eyes glistening in the pale moonlight. Then she turned and ran into the house._

**a/n: the coming chapters will have flashbacks in the beginning. you can skip if you wish but later in the story you will have to go back and read these flashbacks because it explains the history of these earlier characters.**_  
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_**a/n: here goes nothing...**_  
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**BPOV**

"Okay, meeting." Alice said authoritatively. There was a collective groan from everyone on the table. "Oh, come on guys. I need your input. Or would you rather have me plan everything?"

"And get stuck carrying around your bags while you're on our shopping spree? No way." Jacob shook his head, his shaggy hair flying all over his face.

"You'll still end up doing that, Jacob, wherever it is we go. You know that, right?" Alice said wryly. "I just wanted input on where we're going this year. I mean, I don't want to seem like I'm dragging you guys somewhere you don't want to be."

"Which wouldn't be so different from the past two years." Edward muttered beside me.

I tried to stifle a giggle but Jacob heard and he turned to me, his eyes pleading. "Come one, Bells! Say something!"

My jaw fell and Alice grinned triumphantly. Now the spotlight was on me and even with my friends I still shied away from it. I racked my brain for an idea. For the past week we'd been trying to come up with the perfect getaway during the school holidays. It was something we did together as friends. This was our bonding time.

Two years ago we went to the Black's beach house. The year before we were at the Cullen's penthouse in the big city then spent the day at _their_ beach house. It seemed like it was my turn to be hostess.

"But we don't have a beach house," was all I could say.

Jacob barked a throaty, almost hysterical laugh. Apparently he was pretty scared about Alice and her sprees since the only other obvious option if I hosted this year's holiday was to go to the week-long party that my mom's closest and richest friend indulged on. Phil was always inviting me and my sister to go. "Of course you do, Bells."

"Yeah, we do but we can't stay there. My parents will be there for the holiday and the week after." I said.

"Really" Jake and Alice said together, but Jake had a panicked look while Alice looked like she was already planning our week-long party wardrobe.

"Yes, really."

"How about Rose?" Edward asked.

I made the mistake of looking into his darn green eyes ad my brain instantly turned into mush. That has been happening quite a lot lately; I have no idea why -- okay, maybe I did but I was absolutely not going to say that our loud or even thing about it. Edward was my friend, my best friend's brother, no less. I was obviously going slightly insane.

"Sorry, what?" I blurted out.

"How about Rosalie, where is she going?" he repeated with a grin that I so loved.

"Oh, she's going to Phil's party this year." I mumbled, looking away from him. I needed to gather my thoughts.

"Cool." Alice squealed. "If there are no other ideas, I say we vote on it."

"Will our 3 votes even count?" Edward asked in mock exasperation.

"Of course not." Alice grinned evilly.

"Thought so." Edward shrugged.

"I love you, brother dear." Alice practically beamed.

"I love you too, Alice." He said and I was suddenly daydreaming about Edward saying the same words to me but with my name in the end… it sent butterflies in my stomach even though I knew it was really silly to think about it. Bella. Bella. Bella.

My daydream was so real that I could actually hear his velvety voice saying it, "Bella."

"Yes?" I said with a stupid grin on my face. Then I felt him touch my shoulder lightly and I felt a slight jolt that I instantly landed back on earth. Alice giggled as Edward grinned and pointed to Jacob who obviously said something while I was daydreaming.

"Huh?" I said blankly.

"I asked, do we not have anywhere else to do? Somewhere far from malls, please, Bells."

I shook my head and then a sudden childhood memory flashed before my eyes and I suddenly had an idea. "Oh."

"Ha!" Jacob cried, grinning from ear to ear. "Go, Bells!"

Alice raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

I hesitated. I wasn't sure if they'd enjoy it there. "Well, there is one place we could go, if you guys really insist that I host this year."

"Where? Where?" Jacob was bouncing on his seat.

"It's a house that belonged to my family for years. It's in a small province. I remember going there as a kid. I had fun but I heard whispers that it was haunted. I never really stayed in the house long enough to prove it…" I trailed off as I realized I was inviting my friends to a horror-themed holiday.

"It's haunted?" Jacob said in awe.

"And you actually tried to prove it?" Edward asked, a smile playing on the side of his lips.

I bit my lip. "Well, the other kids were daring me because I didn't believe them. But mom was calling me to go home and we were too preoccupied having a real holiday than to stay in the old house."

"I don't understand…" Jacob said.

"Well, no one lives in the old house anymore. Caretakers live in the compound but not in the house itself. Then my dad had a new house built close to the old one close to the town."

"Ooooohhhh." Alice suddenly piped up. We looked at her, a glint in her eyes. "This is going to be a great trip, Bella!"

Alice had a way of saying things like that about our plans like she could see the future and knew exactly what was going to happen.

"Horror house, check!" Alice grinned. "What else can we do there?"

I tried to remember. "A lot, actually. My dad had one of his cousins take care of it and we have horses. There are loads of fruit trees around the old house which we can visit during the day. I bet you guys have never learned how to climb trees." I chuckled.

"Come on, Bella…" Alice said it like I was being silly. "Oh, you're right." She shrugged. "That would be cool. Tree-climbing, check! Horseback riding, check!"

Edward spoke, "I think it's a great idea, Bella. Far away from the hustle and bustle of the town, is it?"

"Yes, but we wont be staying in the old house, obviously" I pointed out.

"Then where will we stay?" Both Alice and Jacob's faces fell.

"In the new one, closer to town, of course. Come on guys, no ones lived in that old house for years!"

Alice clapped her hands. "Yay! Ghost hunt!"

"Oh yeah!" Jacob grinned. "What do you think, Ed?"

Edward looked like he was thinking about it, a cute wrinkle appearing just beneath his brows. "I think… it's going to be amazing!" He and Jacob laughed and gave each other high fives.

"Yeah, cool." I said. "I better call dad and tell him." I took out my phone and started to scroll through my contacts. I pressed Send when I got to his number and mumbled as the phone rang. "You guys, we can always pig out in the other house. You can bring your Xbox and PSPs. We have internet in the new house as well."

Alice shook her head. "Nope, no need. We're staying in the old house!"

I rolled my eyes and leaned away from the already psyched-up trio. The phone was still ringing as I started to walk away just as I heard Jacob say, "This is going to be one heck of a holiday!" I inhaled as my dad picked up, I really hope so.

**a/n: its not a very long chapter. please, if anyone reads this R&R would be the best possible motivation for me to write the rest of the story and get them out as soon as I can. :) thaaaanks! choc-chip cookies for the first five reviews!**

**xx, Zia  
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	2. Packing

**Bella POV**

"Whooo. Fi-nuh-lee!" Rosalie announced. She spread her arms and fell backwards on to her queen-sized bed, which was covered with discarded clothes and bottles of cosmetics. I was leaning against the headboard with my legs tucked beneath me. I decided to break into my new book while my sister finished up packing. "God, I hate packing." she exhaled.

I looked up from my book and looked at the top of her head.

She craned her neck to look back up at me.

"Sure you do." I made a show of glancing around her whole room – an action that she mirrored – and gave a sheepish grin.

"I do..." She croaked.

I chuckled. "Whatever Rose. This room looks like the Cullen's summer house last fall."

I knew my sister well enough that when she opened her mouth to reply it would be to say that that meant her room didn't look bad at all but I cut her off before she could say anything. "AFTER a hundred teenagers raided it and partied for twenty four hours."

Rose huffed and I laughed. She crossed her arms over her chest while her feet still dangled on the edge of the bed. "It was terrible, wasn't it?"

"Ya think?" I snapped my book shut. I don't know what I was thinking bringing a book into Rosalie's room. She's witty and intelligent but she wasn't much for reading books 'for fun' – particularly if said books are historical fictions.

Rose sat up. Her ruffled hair managed to look gorgeous on her. She didn't even bother to fix it. I would have looked like a chicken trying to avoid becoming the main course if I tried to sport that 'do. "Haha. Carlisle totally flipped his lid."

"And Alice was so grounded for a month!"

"And Edward! Don't forget Edward!"

Rose and I couldn't stop laughing. The image of two of our closest friends – practically family – being _Cullen Grounded_, as we liked to call it, was just too precious. So when Alice, spunky, fashionable, dark pixie-haired Alice, walked into Rosalie's room saying "Did I hear someone call my name?" Rose and I just fell into another round of hysterical laughter.

Alice jumped up on Rosalie's bed, expensive flats and everything, and started bouncing up and down. "What. What. What. What's so funny?" She hated being left out of the loop.

I tried my hardest to collect myself and in between large gasps of air I managed "Cullen." _Gasp._ "Grounded." _Gasp._ "Last." _Gasp._ "Fall."

Immediately Alice stopped bouncing. For a moment her shoulders dropped and it looked liker her short hair, usually sticking up in all directions, actually wilted. She recovered quickly and lithely jumped off the bed then stomped to stand in front of Rose.

Alice was a head shorter than me while Rose was a head taller than me. With me standing in between them, we simply looked like ordinary girls with a slight height difference. You didn't see it so much because of the way we carried ourselves and the way our personalities melded into each other's.

I was of average height so I never got teased about it. But Rose has had to slouch a little. She's the most vivacious, confident woman I've ever seen but everyone has their insecurities and soft spots. As much as she plays along with it and sometimes even uses it to her advantage, Rose is actually quite sensitive about her height. Alice is the same. But different. Being so tiny she's had to work harder to be seen. Literally and figuratively. Now she's all but picking out our daily outfits for us. I've never met anyone with a bigger personality than Alice. Most people who meet her for the first time can't help but act parental around her but give her 5 minutes and she'll show you who's boss. Both girls are smart but where Rose has beauty, Alice has personality.

Somehow I fit in the middle. I'm the grey to their black and white. Or maybe that's the wrong metaphor. The three of us have so much in common that sometimes it's hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. But once you get to know us, people tell us that we're actually quite different. Rose is the aspiring architect. Alice considering going into PR and me, the photographer. So I guess, in a way, we work.

I couldn't help but laugh at the image I saw before me, though. Rose, doubled over from laughter and Alice standing firmly with her hands on her hips, a slight frown on her forehead and a sharp look on her face.

"Rosalie Swan you stop that giggling right this instant." Alice demanded.

"But. You. Were. So. Miserable." Rose was still laughing but I was already starting to recover. "You're never miserable. It's. It's so funny."

Alice huffed and crossed her arms.

Rose started blubbering as she wiped tears from her eyes. "No credit card or debit card foramonth. Outfitrepeattwoweeksinarow!" She laughed some more. "Oh the horror! Hahahahah."

I looked from Alice to Rose. The height difference seems much more obvious when you take me out of the picture. The leggy blonde and the sparkly pixie. Like… Barbie and Strawberry Shortcake. Except Strawberry Shortcake looked like she was about to pop Barbie's head off. And we couldn't have that. Barbie was about to fly out to a week-long party.

I cleared my throat. Alice was unmoving. Rose had her hand up to her chest and was doing that weird laugh-sigh-heave thing people do when their laughter starts to die down. It sounded like, "Hahahaaa." Inhale. "Haaaa." Inhale. "Haaa."

"Ehe-EHEM." I said again.

Rose still had a dopey look on her face when she turned to me. I frowned and nodded towards Alice who was looking straight at Rose.

Her grin faded quickly when she finally faced Alice. "Oh."

" 'Oh' is right, miss." Alice said. She dropped her hands and stomped her foot. "That was a terrible time! How was I supposed to know that the WHOLE senior class was gonna be there? And how was I supposed to know that the football team turn into mindless apes when they're drunk?"

"Actually, you should know that seeing as you're brothers with one of them." I said meekly.

Alice shot me a glance which shut me up immediately.

"And as for the outfit repeats, those were necessary sacrifices. My father didn't understand my needs at the time." Alice said stubbornly.

"But now you've seen the light." I added again.

Alice wanted to protest but she knew I was right. Seriously, who buys clothes, wears them once and then gives them away?

"I'm sorry but all my clothes go to charity." She said as if reading my mind.

"If," Rose finally spoke up. "By 'charity' you mean Clarisse Harrison's closet, then sure."

"It's not my fault if her treasurer-of-the-local-charity of a mother has itchy hands and nicks donations before it even reaches the committee's table." Alice said.

We all thought about it for a second and then nodded. "That is true." I concluded.

"But we're getting off topic here. You made fun of my misfortune. You're not a very good friend." Alice said it in such a matter of fact way you wouldn't think she was the least bit serious. But Rose took her cue and hugged Alice.

"I'm sorry Ally. You know how that just cracks me up like hell. I swear, it will never get old. In fact it's probably a story I'll tell my kids in the future. 'How Your Aunt Alice Spent A Month with 70% Less of her Allowance – Which Is More Than A Mortal Could Want for a Lifetime'. Oh how my children will laugh."

Alice slapped Rose's shoulder but giggled anyway. "Make sure you tell them about how I colour blocked on a Wednesday and Clarisse was livid because she thought I was going boho-chic so she tried to outdress me."

Rose and I looked at each other. "Oh, we can't forget that."

"And how people still talk about it in the hallway and call it 'Golden' - the party of all parties - and how people say nothing has come close to it since." Rose said.

This time the three of us exploded into laughter.

It was then that mum came in and knocked on the already-open door. We were all in stitches when she asked "Rose, are you read yet?"

More panting. And the weird laugh-sigh-heave sound again. We all turned towards her.

"All set, mother." She pulled her luggage upright and beamed.

Mum blinked. "Woah, you've packed light."

Light was so not the word I would have used. We could probably fit an Alice and a half in that bag. Or two if we folded them up nicely and rolled them like spring rolls and packed them in tightly. But I digress.

Rose smiled. "Oh no. The rest is over there." She nodded over her shoulder and there stood another bag the same size as the one she had, another one that was half the size of the first two, a gigantic handbag and a purse. All, I might add, in the same shade of red.

My mother's face had a mix of panic and reassurance. Panic because of the extra money they'll have to pay for the baggage – once Rose is done packing, Rose is done packing. No one can take or add anything to it, something which we learned the hard way, in a crowed airport in New York, three days before Christmas, on our way to Paris – and reassurance because I guess for a second she thought aliens had abducted her daughter and took her brains out or something.

Oooooo

Ten minutes later we were downstairs saying our goodbyes.

"Phil will be here in 5 minutes, Rose. Do you have everything you need?" Mum asked.

"Yes, mother."

Mum tucked a strand of hair behind Rose's ear. "Have fun and be safe, okay?"

"Of course she'll be safe, Renee. I hope you haven't forgotten who's hosting this party!" Phil's sing-song voice floated into our front lounge as he sashayed in.

Rose laughed but melted into our mother's outstretched arms. "I will mum." She said. "I'll miss you guys." She turned to Alice and myself. "But I will see you two at the end of the week!"

Phil looked at us incredulously. "Whaaaat? These two gorgeous dolls aren't coming?"

Alice pouted and gave Phil air-kisses. "Not this year, Phil. Bella gets to pick so…"

Phil fake-gasped and looked at me in fake-outrage. "Isa-BELLA! Your choice of summer vacation destination but you don't pick me? I'm hurt!"

I walked up to him and gave him a legit hug. "Like Alice said, not this year. Maybe next time… like when we're 18?"

Phil laughed. "But where's the fun in that?"

I just shrugged. "Ghosts won this year so…"

"Ghosts?" He asked.

"Yes!" Alice said excitedly. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet again. "Charlie has a haunted house. Who knew?"

Phil looked from me to my mother with his jaw dropped.

"Oh, she's definitely making it seem more than it is. It's just superstition and rumours. We're there for nature and all that stuff." I assured him.

Phil waved his hand as though punctuating the end of the conversation and he launched into a new one with my mother. His driver, Pablo, started carrying Rose's luggage into the car so Alice and I decided to walk her out.

We followed behind Pablo who actually managed to carry-drag Rosalie's luggage in one go – all but the bag which had all of Rose's essentials and was now hooked on her shoulder..

"You know what, that ghost talk back there reminded me of something." She slowed her walk and Alice and I matched her pace.

"What?" Alice's round eyes glistened as Rose started to talk.

"It's just… I don't know. When was the last time we went there, Bella? 10? 11 years ago?"

"Wow, I didn't realize it's been so long." I muttered.

"Yeah. It was when pops passed away. We went there for the funeral and every summer before that. Dad still goes back every so often but not as often as he used to since Pops died." Rose was solemn. "I guess it reminds him too much of his childhood and our grandparents." She said that mostly to Alice but also partly to herself.

We had all stopped in the middle of the walkway at this point. I could feel a prickling on my skin and I wasn't sure if it was the afternoon breeze or the way Rose was telling her story.

"Yeah? And?" Alice asked eagerly.

"Well…" Rose hesitated and she looked at me. "I've never told anyone this before. Not even Bella."

Alice and I gasped.

"What is it?" I whispered.

Why did I whisper?

"It's… well… the day after the wake, I was in the third floor balcony and I could have sworn I saw something."

**a/n: Waaa here it is guys! After TWO YEARS - a new update! If you're still here after two years of nothing, please do leave a message so I can thank you. If you're new, hello! and I hope you enjoy this. I haven't written in two years so this is new and exciting. (Read front page) I think it's gonna be cool so I hope you guys stick around.**


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